When Good Isn't Enough
by MadxRabbit
Summary: Tsuna never liked his father much, but there was something he could respect. His loyalty and love for his mother. Except that wasn't true. It turns out Tsuna has an older brother.


Tsuna knows something is wrong the moment he pulls the door open and his father is standing on the other side. There is no loud and annoying greeting, no loud proclamation of undying love for one Nana Sawada. Nothing normal for the blonde man, just a small smile sent Tsuna's way (If it can even be called that) before he's stepping through the doorway. Tsuna watches as he walks by, his eyes searching for any sort of injury. There are none, or at least none that Tsuna can see.

There's a prickling sensation that goes down Tsuna's spine, and he turns back to the open doorway. It's dark, the sun having set more than two hours ago, but he still manages to catch sight of the silhouette leaning against the yard fence, obviously watching them.

Tsuna turns back to his father, because if Tsuna has seen them, then his father definitely has as well. His father stands just outside the kitchen doorway, no doubt watching his wife at work. He turns to Tsuna, and the small smile he had on his face is gone.

"I want to speak to you and your mother," Iemitsu finally says, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. If Tsuna didn't know something had been wrong before, this would be another give away. His father was wearing a suit. He had come to the house in a suit, not the usual orange construction uniform he always showed up in, but a suit.

Tsuna blinked in slight surprise, before turning back to the door. He catches sight of the silhouette, who has turned away from the house. He frowns, turns back to where Iemitsu has disappeared to and with no small amount of hesitation shuts the door with a soft click.

His father obviously does not see the figure outside as a threat, and if there is anything Tsuna can trust in his father it's the fact that he won't let his mother come to harm. He turns and makes for the kitchen, it's obvious his mother doesn't know Iemitsu is back.

"Mom," he calls and Nana immediately turns to look at her son, a curious smile on her face. "Dad's back, he wants to talk to us." Tsuna doesn't care much for his dad, has a strong dislike for the man, but his mother loves the man, and the news of his return brings a brilliant smile to her face.

"Oh! Is he really!?" she questions, putting down the knife she has in hand. Her smiles drops some when she turns back to the cutting board and takes in the diced vegetables. Tsuna has no doubt that his mother is thinking of the extravagant meal she could have made if she had known of his arrival.

"Ah well Let's not keep him waiting!" She states happily. She gestures for Tsuna to lead the way, Tsuna offers his mother a smile before turning in the direction his father had disappeared to. Iemitsu is in the living room, slouched back onto the couch. His head is tilted back and his eyes are closed. He doesn't look up until Nana lets out a happy sound at the sight of him.

"Honey!" she moves past Tsuna and makes her way to her husband. Iemitsu stands to greet her. The man's smile turns a bit lovestruck at the sight of Nana as she gently scolds him for not letting her know he was coming home. He laughs, but it's not the usual boisterous laugh he gives when in the presence of his mother.

Tsuna watches quietly, his eyes intent on his father. There is something wrong with his father, he's not sure what it is, but the man's behavior is odd, his usual straight back is slouched. Tsuna can't help but think maybe this isn't his father, but he knows it is.

"Ah, are you two the only two home?" Iemitsu questions, scanning the room curiously, and with what looks like relief.

"Ma, Bianchi took the kids to the park for a bit," Nana begins a smile on her face "Reborn had some business to attend to."

"Ah Tsuna didn't go out?" Iemitsu asks, turning to face Tsuna. Tsuna gives a shrug of his shoulders.

"Tsu-kun was out with friends earlier!" Nana cuts in before Tsuna can say anything. "He's always going out lately, he wanted to spend time with his mother." she gives Tsuna a bright smile. Tsuna doesn't bother correcting her, or explaining that most of the time they have been home together Tsuna was in his room trying to complete his homework before Reborn returned from wherever it is he had gone off to. (He had asked, and received a kick to the head for questioning the hitman in the first place.)

Iemitsu gets this look on his face that tells Tsuna he's going to say something that is going to make the teenager dislike his father just a little more.

"You wanted to talk to us." Tsuna cuts in, Iemitsu frowns at the boy. Nana claps her hand at the reminder.

"Ah, that's right!"

Tsuna will never get over the the strange feeling he gets in his stomach whenever his father goes from the goofy idiot he appears to be in front of his mother to the serious mafioso he really is. It's strange and Tsuna sort of hates it because it just proves his father isn't just some useless lazy drunk. He's just a useless father.

The shift in behavior takes Nana by surprise, her eyes widening slightly. Iemitsu had probably never been serious a day in his life with Nana, or maybe he had been but it was a just a rarity. Tsuna was betting on the former though. He moves forward, taking his mother's hand and gently urging her to sit on the couch, when the blonde gestures for them to take a seat.

He stands tall before them, eyes intent on both Tsuna and Nana, his hands on his hips. He turns away, a hand rising to scratch at his chin, before moving to his head. Tsuna can't help but be curious at what the man wants to tell them, he's also dreading what Iemitsu is going to say.

"Alright," he clears his throat turning back to face them, or well Nana at least. "Nana, I have been lying to you for some time." Tsuna's attention is immediately focused on his father, was he finally going to tell Nana about the mafia? Nana's eyes widen slightly in a mix of confusion and surprise.

"There's no way to tell you this," Iemitsu hands come up in some sort if placating gesture. "I have a son." He says slowly. Nana blinks in bewilderment, her eyes darting from Iemitsu to Tsuna who's sitting next to her. Tsuna blinks meeting her eyes with his own confusion as well. He's confused but there's a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Honey, of course you have a son," Nana laughs. There's a tremble in her voice, she seems to be coming to a conclusion that Tsuna is not. "his name is Tsuna." Iemitsu lets out a sigh, his eyes slide closed as if he's gathering his resolve. They open and there's determined glint to them.

"Not Tsunayoshi, another son."

It's a deafening sort of silence that fills the room. Nana's hands clench and unclench around the fabric of her apron. Tsuna watches with wide eyes, there's a loud roaring in his ears. He's not sure what he's supposed to do, his mother's breaths are coming out short and labored, as if she's holding herself back from crying.

"H-how old?" she finally asks, the words barely louder than a whisper but easily heard in the quiet of the room. Iemitsu shoves his hands in his pockets, he looks away and doesn't answer.

Tsuna's hands clench into a tight fist, the cool metal of his ring biting into his flesh of his palm. It feels like a hot bubble is building inside of him as he watches the man before him. His mom is trembling beside him, her hands coming to clench each other a futile attempt at getting the trembling to stop.

"How old?" Tsuna repeats. Iemitsu turns to him in surprise, eyes slightly wide. It doesn't surprise Tsuna, his voice is cold and calm, nothing like his soft spoken tone. Iemitsu frowns.

"Seventeen." Nana lets out a small sob. Seventeen, he's older than Tsuna by two years. Iemitsu and Nana had been married for three years before they had Tsuna. Sometime in that time Iemitsu had fallen into bed with another woman, it's not hard to figure out it had to be in the first few months in their new lives as a married couple, maybe sooner.

"His mother just passed away and I'm his legal guardian, his father," Iemitsu is explaining something, but Tsuna can't bring himself to really listen. "He'll be living here from now on." Tsuna's mind comes to a screeching halt as the words process in his mind.

"You can't be serious!" he finds himself shouting, disbelief filling him. His mother seems just as stunned at the information as he is. There are tear tracks down her face, her hands only inches from her face.

"Tsunayoshi." Iemitsu reprimands, his eyes cold as they look on at Tsuna. If this was any other time, Tsuna would be tumbling back in fear at the look on his father's face, but he won't let himself. He knows his father is stronger than him, has felt it first hand, knows he should be scared when his own father is looking at him like he won't hesitate to knock Tsuna down if he says anything against him. But he's not scared, all he feels is anger and a deep sense of disappointment.

He never liked his father, never had much respect for him, and until just a few months ago believed him to be some useless lazy father., still was. He just never thought he was a lousy husband as well. His mother loved him so much, he had to be a good husband and that was what really mattered. He made his mother happy, he had one redeeming feature in Tsuna's eyes and that was his loyalty and love to his mother.

Except he had to destroy that as well.

"You're not seriously going to bring him here!?" Tsuna questioned, pushing himself to his feet. His father's eyes narrowed in warning, but Tsuna didn't back down, his glare remained focused on the only blonde in the room. "What about how mom feels!?"

"Do you think she wants him here!?" his voice raised in volume as his father did or said nothing, just continued to watch, his face blank. "How more cruel can you be?" It happened quickly one minute his father was in the middle of the living room and the next he was standing in front of Tsuna, his hand clenched tightly around the fabric of Tsuna's shirt. His face was twisted into a look of anger.

"Iemitsu!"

Tsuna clenched his eyes tightly waiting for the blow to come. Except it never did, his father released his hold on Tsuna quickly, setting him back on the floor. Tsuna's eyes slid open, his face was inches away from his mother's head, her short strands of hair brushing his face. Nana stood between Tsuna and Iemitsu her hands outstretched from where she had pushed the older man away from Tsuna.

There was a glare on her face as she stared up at the blonde. Iemitsu's own face was slack with surprise, eyes wide, and hand still outstretched as he stared down at the petite woman that was his wife.

"Don't touch him." she said, her words were soft, but the threat was clear. Tsuna could only blink in surprise as he watched his mother. It took a moment but Iemitsu managed to pull himself back together, straightening his suit.

"He's outside waiting to come in." Iemitsu stated, leaving no room for arguments, before he turned and walked out of the room. Nana didn't move until they heard the room the front open and then close.

She turned to face him, her face smeared with dry tears. Her hands raised to his face, eyes darting over him, searching for any sort of injury. When she found none, she let her hands drop to her side.

"Neh Tsu-kun, today seems like a good day for a sleepover doesn't it?" Nana suggested, her smile small as she stared at Tsuna. Tsuna's eyes widened slightly, before shaking his head in protest. She took his hand, squeezing it gently silently urging him not to argue. "I'm sure Yamamoto-san won't mind having you over today."

Tsuna wanted to protest, but the look on her face stopped him. She didn't want him in the house at the moment, not after what almost had happened. He understood, but he also didn't want to leave his mother home alone.

"I'll have Reborn and the other's head over there too." She said. "I'll have Bianchi keep me company tonight." she pushed him towards the doorway, silently urging him to get his things. Tsuna went after only a small hesitation. He climbed the stairs to his bedroom and quickly gathered his things, making sure to check for his school bag before he ran back down stairs.

His mother was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, an unfamiliar coat in hand. She was staring where the kitchen was, where the soft sound of someone talking was coming from. It didn't take long for Tsuna to realize it was Iemitsu and his son. Nana turned back, forcing a smile on her face. She ran a hand through his hair, and whispered a soft goodnight before he walked out the door.

He turned back just as the door was closing to see the smile on his mother's face drop away.


End file.
